Nothing prepares you for it. No amount of YouTube videos, Instagram posts, car spotting in ritzy neighbourhoods or 'seat time' in Forza Horizon prepares you for the magic and brutality. The Lamborghini Aventador S roadster is a Goliath of a car, in a day and age where turbocharging and electrification dominate; where Supreme stickers are carelessly affixed to fine leather dashboards.
The first thing about the Aventador that hits you is the sound. There's a red, half-clamshell lid on the centre console. Flip it up, stab the button and the Aventador’s 740-horsepower, V12 engine grunts awake. Give the throttle a couple of blips, and the Aventador lets out a few banshee cries — all this drama, while the car sits still.
A rip to the sky-high, 8,500 rpm redline announces your presence to anyone within a kilometre or two. With the sound and the razor-sharp response only a normally aspirated engine provides, the Aventador charges hard towards — and well beyond — highly illegal speeds in less than a blink of an eye. It's one of the few modern cars that will legitimately make your palms sweat.
When you're driving an Aventador S, there's a target on your back. People don't just look — they stare. Turn heads. Whip out their iPhone to take a picture. Give you either a thumbs-up or a scoff. Each dance with the throttle is as though you're flirting with danger; stay on the throttle a bit too much, make a bit too much noise, and you'll draw the attention of an overzealous cop.

Photo: Lamborghini

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Photo: Lamborghini

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As if life with an Aventador isn’t difficult enough, it's not an easy car to drive. That's the beauty of this car; it challenges you. On anything but full-throttle rips, the transmission makes the Aventador buck and shudder, especially in low gears. The proportions are just insane; this car is almost unreasonably low and wide. Sure, that helps it better cut through the air and clip apexes at Mosport and Mugello, but potholes, speed bumps and driveways are your worst enemies. Oh, and fuel economy? Ha!

Photo: Lamborghini

Photo: Lamborghini

Photo: Lamborghini

Photo: Lamborghini

Photo: Lamborghini

Photo: Lamborghini

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Photo: Lamborghini

It's difficult to grasp the true purpose of the Aventador's existence. Most will be treated as a plaything for the rich, an accessory for young Millennials whose primary income is the Bank of Mom and Dad. Come on, that rear wing has an objective — not to stay up as you trundle along traffic through ritzy neighbourhoods, but to keep the rear end planted at triple-digit speeds. Yet on the flip side, you can't appreciate the Aventador's performance on a daily basis, unless you want to lose your licence. What's the bloody point, then?

Photo: Lamborghini

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Despite the Aventador's width, the interior is cramped. Forget about carrying a couple of water bottles, a messenger bag, or a purse. Shoulder check? Good luck with that. Adjust your mirrors wide, because all you'll see is the rear bulkhead and fine leather. If you want to drive topless, forget about using the front trunk — that's where the roof panel goes, and it takes up the entire compartment. Entering and exiting the Aventador is an exercise in contortions, but once you finally get in, the cabin cocoons you well. It’s obviously befitting of the price tag, though you might have a tough time finding some of the controls.

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Photo: Lamborghini

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Photo: Lamborghini

Photo: Lamborghini

Photo: Lamborghini

by NICK TRAGIANIS | JULY 17

digit speeds. Yet on the flip side, you can't appreciate the Aventador's performance on a daily basis, unless you want to lose your licence. What's the bloody point, then?
Calling the Aventador S roadster a plaything for the rich, however true it may seem, is almost insulting. It's also much, much more than a calculated track weapon. To fully understand and appreciate the Aventador, you need to consider the present and future — Lamborghini is very much in the SUV game; the Urus is effectively a licence to print money. Lamborghini's future is also inevitably electric; the wild Terzo Millennio concept is reportedly giving way to an ultra limited-production, electrified hypercar that will also be a precursor to the Aventador's eventual replacement.
That puts the Aventador into perspective. Call it pointless, excessive and ridiculous all you want. None of that changes the Aventador’s spirit — it’s an outrageous and hellacious brute, unhindered battery packs and electric motors. The day of an electrified Aventador is inevitable, and when it arrives, the magic and brutality will never be the same.

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Aventador S Roadster

Photo: Lamborghini

Photo: Lamborghini

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First Drive: 2018 Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster

Photo: Lamborghini

When you're driving an Aventador S, there's a target on your back. People don't just look — they stare. Turn heads. Whip out their iPhone to take a picture. Give you either a thumbs-up or a scoff. Each dance with the throttle is as though you're flirting with danger; stay on the throttle a bit too much, make a bit too much noise, and you'll draw the attention of an overzealous cop.

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Photo: Lamborghini

A rip to the sky-high, 8,500 rpm redline announces your presence to anyone within a kilometre or two. With the sound and the razor-sharp response only a normally aspirated engine provides, the Aventador charges hard towards — and well beyond — highly illegal speeds in less than a blink of an eye. It's one of the few modern cars that will legitimately make your palms sweat.

The original Lamborghini Aventador was a wild beast, but the S — billed as its replacement — does smooth out a lot of kinks and maintains the brutality. At the heart of the Aventador S is a 6.5L V12 engine, putting out 740 horsepower and 509 lb.-ft. of torque. The engine is pure violence, completely shunning turbochargers and electrification. And yet, Lamborghini somehow managed to squeeze out an extra 40 horsepower over the original Aventador, thanks to a higher redline, and tweaks to the variable valve and variable intake timing systems.
It takes a fair bit of confidence to pin the throttle, rip through all seven of the single-clutch transmission’s gears, and truly realize the Aventador’s potential. But when you do, try not to blink — and make sure you’re on a racetrack. From a standstill, 100 km/h arrives in three seconds. Keep it pinned, and the Aventador S Roadster tops out at 350 km/h.

Photo: Lamborghini

Photo: Lamborghini

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Photo: Lamborghini

Photo: Lamborghini

Photo: Lamborghini

Beyond the tweaks to its greasy bits, the Aventador S Roadster sees yet another laundry list of changes — this time, to its body. On the surface, its more aggressively styled, but those nips and tucks have key jobs. There is no shortage of ducts, splitters and vents all around the body, all aimed at cooling the massive engine, helping the Aventador better slice through the air, and improve aerodynamics.
Up front, the larger front splitter redirects air for improved aerodynamics and cooling, while a couple of ducts on the edges of the bumper push air alongside the car and into the rear radiators. Out back, the diffusor reduces drag and generates downforce; an active wing finishes off the rear end and alters its position based on speed and drive mode. Of course, if you want to be that guy or gal, there’s a button on the centre console that keeps the wing deployed at all times.
All told, the aerodynamic bits result in a 130 per cent increase in downforce up front. The wing, on the other hand, improves downforce by over 400 per cent in its second position, and more than 50 per cent in its highest position.
And if you have to ask about fuel economy — well, don’t. The Aventador S Roadster is exactly as fuel efficient as you think.

Then there’s Corsa and Ego. The former minimizes stability and traction control intervention and maximizes pretty much everything else. Curiously, the torque split is actually bumped down to an 20/80 front/rear split, lending to more neutral behaviour around a track. The latter is all-new — Ego lets you tailor custom settings; that's nothing new, but of course Lamborghini called it that. Because "Custom" or "Individual" are too pedestrian. Too boring. It had to be called Ego, because driving a Lamborghini is all about me!

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Photo: Lamborghini

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Photo: Lamborghini

As you'd expect, these modes fiddle with the car's steering, suspension and drivetrain, including the exact moment stability control shuts down your party. Strada keeps the front/rear torque split 40/60 for maximum adhesion, but Sport is a little more flexible, allowing up to 90 per cent of torque rearwards. It’s also smart enough to know when you’ve lifted your foot off the throttle, so as not to shift as much torque to the front axle as it normally would, making it easier to induce oversteer with the right amount of extra throttle and steering

Photo: Lamborghini

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It yields an interesting effect — at lower speeds, it’s as though the Aventador’s wheelbase “feels” 500 millimetres shorter. And at higher speeds, it’s as though the wheelbase grows by 700 millimetres. All this translates to better cornering dynamics at lower speeds belying the Aventador’s true size, and more stability at higher speeds. This car is huge, so anything that would help it corner better is invaluable. Coupled with the clever all-wheel-drive system and super sticky Pirelli P-Zero that may as well be made of Velcro, the Aventador S Roadster is rock-solid at speed. And when you’re dealing with 740 horsepower, stability is crucial. The rear-wheel steering system does pack a few pounds onto the car’s bottom line, but that’s offset by a 20-per-cent lighter exhaust system.

But the S isn’t just extra power. It introduces a laundry list of enhancements; chief among them is a rear-wheel steering system. It operates no differently than other rear-wheel steering systems we’ve seen, but Lamborghini pushes the envelope by allowing the rear wheels to turn up to three degrees, in the opposite direction as the front wheels, at lower speeds. Go faster and the rears turn by 1.5 degrees in the same directions as the fronts.

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Photo: Lamborghini

Photo: Lamborghini

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much torque to the front axle as it normally would, making it easier to induce oversteer with the right amount of extra throttle and steering.

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Photo: Lamborghini

Photo: Lamborghini

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Photo: Lamborghini

would help it corner better is invaluable. Coupled with the clever all-wheel-drive system and super sticky Pirelli P-Zero that may as well be made of Velcro, the Aventador S Roadster is rock-solid at speed. And when you’re dealing with 740 horsepower, stability is crucial. The rear-wheel steering system does pack a few pounds onto the car’s bottom line, but that’s offset by a 20-per-cent lighter exhaust system.
And on top of all that, the steering wheel is communicative. It's heavy, but not to the point where you should hit the gym, and you can actually feel what's going on below the front wheels.

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Photo: Lamborghini

Photo: Lamborghini

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Also new to the Aventador S: A new mode for the LDVA system, short for Lamborghini Dinamica Veicolo Attiva. This mishmash of letters essentially serves as the car's brain, and either saves or coddles your bacon, depending on the drive mode you've selected. Come on, it's 2018. Did you really expect anything less? Previously, you could choose between Street, Sport and Track ... err, Strada, Sport and Corsa modes